This annual study will help public policymakers and system stakeholders understand how prices paid for medical professional services for injured workers in their state compare with other states and know if prices in their state are rising rapidly or relatively slowly. They can also learn if the reason for price growth in their state is part of a national phenomenon or whether the causes are unique to their state and, hence, subject to local management or reform. 

The study tracks medical prices paid in 25 large states from calendar year 2002 through June 2013 for nonhospital, nonfacility services billed by physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors. The medical services fall into eight major groups: evaluation and management, physical medicine, surgery, major radiology, minor radiology, neurological and neuromuscular testing, pain management injections, and emergency care.  

The 25 states included in the MPI-WC, which represent nearly 80 percent of the workers' compensation benefits paid in the United States, are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

WCRI Medical Price Index for Workers’ Compensation, Sixth Edition (MPI-WC).Rui Yang and Olesya Fomenko. July 2014. WC-14-34.

Copyright: WCRI